In the world of business or marketing today, branding is the pedestal on which every other aspect of business revolves around. Beginning from strategy to communicate with customers and ultimately down to closing sales, therefore, a great brand strategy not only creates trust in the minds of your customers but also projects the image of a stable business that will always deliver on its mandate.
72% of marketers think branded content is more effective than advertising in a magazine; 62% say it is more effective than advertising on TV; 69% say it is superior to both direct mail and public relations. The Content Council
What goes through your mind when you see some unique brands like that of Apple, LEGO, Levi etc? Well, I can’t say for sure, but you will agree with me that they are creative, catchy and artful, and easily memorable too. While on the other hand, some brands can be weak and uninspiring.
How can I create a brand that will suit my business? Good question, and I have heard such on a number of occasions. Most importantly, when asking such question, you will need to have it at the back of your mind that a brand identity is an avenue through which you communicate with not just your audience but ultimately with the whole world, and it sets you apart from your competitors and ultimately encourages people to identify with you.
BUILD YOUR OWN BRAND
Considering how important branding is to every business’s marketing strategy and potentials, any business or company including start-ups aspiring to reach greater heights should have their own unique brand guidelines, and most importantly too, must remain consistent in it.
While you are on it, here are the 7 social media branding strategies you should follow:
- Choose your networks right
- Never underestimate the importance of visual branding
- Have your own unique voice
- Remain consistent with the topics you choose
- Post on a daily basis
- Use the services of influencers
- Optimize your Bio/profile effectively
Before we proceed, remember that social media can be used for diverse purposes. These could be in the area of content marketing, social selling or customer support among others. The social media actually gives you an opportunity to directly interface with your audience and promote your brand. Some of the more popular ones include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and you should have a presence in each of them!
Are you getting maximum benefits from social media? Well, I can hazard a guess that you’re not but for you to be reading this piece right now means you are eager to turn your social media fortunes around. I can only give you a thumbs up because you’re on the right track already, and success is no longer far away.
Together, let’s dissect the steps we highlighted above and go straight to the meat!
1. Choose your networks right
If your social media presence is not bringing the sort of results or engagement you may wish to have, it is not something to feel sorry about, rather it means there could be some things you’re not doing right.
One important fact to emphasize here is that you shouldn’t allow yourself to be bamboozled by the plethora of social media apps already in existence or even more that are being churned out as we speak, and try to be on all of them. Don’t even try such because it’s as time wasting as it is unproductive. Rather, your duty is to figure out the networks that best suits or aligns well with your company.
2. Never underestimate the importance of visual branding
In the social media arena, visuals play a very important role in constantly reminding your audience about your image and what you stand for. Once again, consistency is key here, and you have to make sure that each of your profile is in consonance with your image in terms of colors, icons, logos, design etc. This will ensure that your identity is easily recognizable regardless of the app or site it is accessed with. Based on this, your color palette and logo should always be compatible and they should always reflect wherever you are. For instance, if your image/logo color is yellow/rising sun, then make sure that yellow and rising sun image is always emblazoned wherever your business is represented.
3. Have your own unique voice
Your brand’s characteristics should equally reflect in the social media posts, in other words, your own unique social media voice ought to be discernible and is also the best way to enhance your brand personality especially when communicating through SM mediums such as Tweeter, Facebook, IG or Snapchat. Although it may take some time to establish your voice but always with consistency, you will be able to do so eventually.
The two basic elements that would make it easy to develop your own voice include:
- Your company’s attitude: your company’s attitude is what defines your business and it will show what your company stands for.
- Consider your audience: now this aspect is very important because it will be a huge turn off if your audience is mainly older people while you try to speak to them in language laced with slangs. So, you need to ensure that you speak in a language your audience will be comfortable to hear.
4. Remain consistent with the topics you choose
Let’s be honest, to be coming up with rich content on a regular basis could be difficult sometimes and one can easily fall into a rut, the temptation of posting just any interesting piece regardless of whether they are in line with your brand or not becomes hard to overcome.
Try as much as possible to remain consistent and make sure that all the content you post are in line with what your company stands for, and also has something of value to offer your audience.
5. Post on a regular basis
How else can you be able to engage with your audience and remain in their minds aside posting contents on a regular basis? The truth is that the world is on a fast moving train and the moment you are not there, others will have the room to snap up your audience and you will be forgotten. Try to post a diverse amount of content every week and stay connected with your audience.
6. Use Influencers Marketing Strategies
Unless you’re an established brand like Apple, Coca Cola, Mcdonalds among others who have pretty large followers, You will need influencers to help you gain the trust of people as well as to leverage on their large followers. These strategies help you with brand awareness and reaching a larger audience.
7. SEO the Heck out of your Bio/profile
You will need to painstakingly create a Bio that briefly explains who you are and what you do and in clear language, take advantage of Keywords that describe your brand at it’s best.
In doing all that has been pointed out above, it is important that you should exercise patience while you remain dedicated even if the results are not instantaneous or as prolific as you may want it to be. You should see it as one who is running a marathon and not troubled that many are already ahead but rather remain focused on the bigger picture.
What do you think of this article? Are you ready to build your brand? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!
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